Veela Inheritance Problems

Disclaimer: See chapter 01. I mean it, go take a look at it.

Chapter 6

Harry took his time in the shower that night. Merlin, he was glad the day was almost over; he had been completely over his head the whole day. To be completely honest, his only hope at the moment was that today would not be an example of what life as a Malfoy would entail.

Breakfast had been awkward, the conversation with Dumbledore and the Malfoys a trial on his temper, but it was nothing compared to the rest of the day.

He almost didn’t have time to say hello to Hermione and Ron (and confirm the DA meeting that night) before he was dragged outside to meet the other ‘veela’ families, where he felt like someone had put him on exhibit. More than one parent, and at least three dominants, had even leaned over him to check the bite mark on his neck. The Malfoys were glued to his side at the next instant, and he was never alone again for a single minute the whole afternoon.

It was sort of interesting, Harry had to admit, while taking mental notes to tell everything to Hermione afterwards. They were in an area with the parents and dominants--Draco made sure he was sitting as far away from the latter as possible--and at a certain point the gates to the area were the tents were set up were opened and the dominants entered. The gates closed behind them and the parents went on as if it was a tea party. Narcissa noticed the look on Harry’s face and started to explain a few things to him.

“You seem surprised with our traditions, Harry,” she mused.

“A bit, Mrs. Malfoy, I mean Draco is always behaving all cool and proper and last night…”

“Last night he wouldn’t take no for an answer?” She was smiling while drinking her tea.

“Mildly putting it, yes.”

“You see, Harry, we” she indicated the group around them, “do appreciate proper behavior and good manners, but in our veins runs powerful blood, veela blood, and along with power that blood gives us instincts, which we know better than to fight. When two descendants from veela blood marry, the blood gets stronger; therefore, the magic gets stronger. Did you know that there was never a squib in either the Black or the Malfoy family?”

Harry shook his head. He had had no idea.

“It’s true. That is why we… indulge our instincts at these gatherings. We put in the same place all eligible candidates to a good match and let them choose for themselves who will marry who; that is how we make sure our families and our magic remain strong. Of course, there are those who decide not to follow tradition, like your friends the Weasleys. No offense, dear, but they started to marry out of the veela community and that turned them into less desirable mates... and than there is you. You were a complete surprise and were only accepted because of how powerful you are.”

“Wow.” Harry was surprised with her honesty. “You don’t believe in presenting a shinier angle, do you, Mrs. Malfoy? Nobody was ever this forward with the fact that I’m only here because of how powerful I am. They always go around saying it is destiny or some other silly nonsense like that.”

Narcissa smiled and sat her cup on the table before answering Harry: “I have too much to lose if I lie to you, dear. Look around, Harry. Did you notice how everybody is still looking at you as if you were the first prize at the community fair? They shouldn’t do that, you know. You are mated now and they should respect that, but I know for a fact that, if any of them had half a chance, they would be here doing their best to present a shinier angle, as you say, only to convince you that their family would be better for you than the one you are in now. I know because that is what I would do. Don’t look so surprised, dear. The submissive group this year is extremely weak, and even if they weren’t, you are too powerful to be ignored. No better match will be made this year or the next ones. I assure you. And that makes you extremely desirable. Add to that the fact that you were pure and even now only one person has touched you, and you will see that you have no parallel. Your children will be very strong; any family would be fortunate to have you. That tends to make a few people reconsider what would or wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Harry was beginning to see some twisted logic in this thing. He noticed Draco in a group of men not far away from them.

“Am I married to Draco?”

“Not yet,” Narcissa explained. “It’s more like an engagement. Oh, you are married by veela standards, but we are not animals living in the wild, are we? There will be a ceremony after the end of the school year, so that your education doesn’t suffer and a few more people are able to witness your union; then you will be legally married. Of course, your role in society is already defined.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, you are here, being treated like an equal by people that only yesterday didn’t even acknowledge your presence, and Draco is over there with his father and being treated like a grown man.”

“I won’t be a house wife,” Harry said darkly.

“Oh, dear, no,” Narcissa laughed, “nobody expects you to start wearing dresses and baking cakes! By all means, no. If anything, now you are a recognized and respected member of society and of the veela community. The fact that you are a submissive only means that you can bear children… of course, due to our veela traits, you would never carry the child of someone who would not be able to protect you as you go through that delicate stage in life; to be chosen by you is a sign of great strength and power. After all, Harry Potter is a powerful wizard and would not put his safety, as well as the safety of his children, in the hands of one less powerful than him.”

“Oh, I see, because Draco is the one ‘I chose’,” Harry said a bit sarcastically. Narcissa paid no mind; she knew they were in for a rough couple of … well, hopefully days, ideally weeks, but it would be more like months really. “It’s like I made a public announcement of his power?”

“Yes, that’s just about it, dear, and now that he is mated”--Narcissa smiled at him again--“and very well mated at that, he is seen as a grown up. He will be taking on more responsibilities, and the two of you will be expected to attend a few social functions. I believe he will let his hair grow as well…” Seeing Harry’s questioning look, Narcissa explained, “He is the head of the house, not the head of the family, but the head of the house the two of you will be forming after you graduate. The long hair is a tradition among the head of the house. You may chose to wear your hair as long as you want.”

“And I will have to bow my head and obey his every order. I get it.”

“No. As a matter of fact you won’t, the title is just for social functions. The inner structure of the family is a personal affair. I happen to know for a fact that Draco would hate a mindless little pet for him to order around; he loves a challenge AND a strong partner.”

'Well, that is not half bad. I can live with that,' Harry thought to himself, watching Draco talk to the other men. Draco certainly knew how to carry himself. Harry noticed Draco looking around and moving towards another table where the Zabinis were sitting. All three of them.

“Mrs. Malfoy, why is Blaise Zabini out here? Shouldn’t he be inside with the other dominants?”

“The Zabinis have decided that no match shall be settled here. I had come to the same decision, before yesterday of course.” Narcissa patted Harry’s hand.

“Of course,” Harry agreed half-heartedly, still a bit insecure as how to react. Was that a compliment? But Narcissa accepted his answer and continued.

“The Zabinis have decided to attend a few parties on the continent, but they are not in a hurry. Blaise can always wait another year or so, too much at stake now.”

“How come?” asked Harry. Narcissa looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Why is there too much at stake now? Wasn’t it like this before?”

“Well,” started Narcissa, measuring her words--no need to scary her beautiful son-in-law now--“The matching is always very important, but the Malfoys have a strong mate for this generation. A mate like you, Harry, doesn’t come by often and is viewed as a valuable asset to a family line. Your children will be very strong and the Malfoys were strong to begin with, so, naturally, the whole entire community will be waiting for your children’s engagement season. You were a surprise, but your children will be expected. I’m ready to bet you a new broom that the parents here are already calculating their chances of getting their grandchildren to marry your children.” Harry scoffed at the idea, but the look on Narcissa Malfoy’s face told him she was being very serious.

“They are planning on engagements with children that are not even born yet?”

“Of course. A well placed match may be the difference between power and social oblivion. Our first choice, however, are the Zabinis.”

“You’ve already chosen? Don’t I have any say in this? Don’t my children? What…”

“Harry!” Narcissa’s voice halted Harry’s tirade before it got out of control. “It is not set in stone. Both of our families have an old agreement that says that we’ll attempt a match between our children first and, if that doesn’t work, we are free to attend any gathering that we see fit. There has not been a match between the Malfoys and the Zabinis for three generations now. The last one was with a distant cousin of Lucius.”

“What if my child doesn’t fall in love with Zabini’s?”

“The deal is off, no doubt about it.” Narcissa smiled reassuringly. Of course, she neglected to mention that once their instincts took over, the children would have feelings for each other even if they had felt nothing before.

She pointed out a few interesting details to Harry and made sure he knew what was expected of him and when. All in all, he didn’t do too badly for his first time, especially considering his muggle upbringing. Yes, a good match indeed.

Draco was very proud of his mate. He could see Harry talking to Narcissa. A brief glance she exchanged with him had told him that Harry was doing all right and Narcissa was pleased. The only problem was the behavior of some of the other dominants. They had the nerve of checking the mark on Harry’s neck; if it wasn’t for Dumbledore standing at his side, he would have cursed a couple of them.

Draco noticed Harry getting up and going up to the fence. They were in a privileged position from which they had a lovely view of the school and the lake. Harry rested against one of the pillars--he looked bored. Draco excused himself and made his way to Harry. Ivanoff, the father of one of the dominants got there first.

“Mr. Potter. You don’t seem to be enjoying yourself,” Draco overheard the older man saying; intrigued, he went around a few tables, taking the long way towards Harry.

“Oh.” Harry was surprised by the deep voice sounding so near him; he turned around to see a large man he had never seen before. “I am fine. I’m just not used to these gatherings.”

“Oh, I see. You are more like me then: you like the action of sports in the great outdoors better than the soft music of the tea rooms. You are a creature of nature much like the Ivanoffs. You should come and visit my beloved country someday. I’m sure you would love it.” Harry was getting more and more uncomfortable as Mr. Ivanoff began to lean closer to him. The man was definitely invading his personal space now.

“We will be sure to do it, someday,” Draco said, putting his hand on Ivanoff’s shoulder and forcing the man to turn around. “We will take our children there on vacation. How would you like that, love?” Draco asked as he pulled Harry in to his arms possessively.

“Sure. It would be nice,” Harry answered, feeling glad for the ‘rescue’. The man was actually very strange, and Harry was glad to be able to get away from him.

The rest of the afternoon went along without any major problems. There seemed to be a Malfoy always within arm’s reach of Harry, which proved to be a bit annoying and ended up giving Harry a headache. He couldn’t be more glad the tea party was done and over with. He excused himself and ran to the Gryffindor tower to get ready for the DA meeting.

Harry ran along the hallway to the room of requirement. The DA was now an official club, with meetings once a week and with twice as many people as when they had started. As soon as Harry entered the room everybody stopped their conversations and turned to him.

“Ok,” Harry addressed them, “I know you are all curious about what is going on and there is no way I can get this out of the way, so let’s make it real brief and than we’ll practice. Yesterday I discovered, along with everybody else, that I have veela blood. Merlin knows how that happened, but it’s not important. Now, apparently, I got myself in a little trouble… again”--a lot of people laughed at that point--“and it seems that I got myself sort of engaged to Draco Malfoy.”

“Not ‘sort of’, Harry, ‘in fact’ engaged to be married. It’s a done deal,” Draco’s voice sounded around the room, calling everybody’s attention. Standing at the door, Draco and five other Slytherin were presenting a united front to the other students, who were looking at them with their mouths open. “What? This is the place to come if you want to learn how to fight against evil dark lords, isn’t it? We are here to learn. So, where do we sign up?”